{"product_id":"9780805080001","title":"The Road to Whatever : Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Road to Whatever\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Elliott Currie\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn \"energetic,\" \"provocative,\" and \"much-needed\" investigation of the root causes of the epidemic of drug abuse, violence, and despair among middle-class American teenagers (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e     In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed sociologist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliott Currie draws on years of interviews to offer a profound investigation of what has gone wrong for so many \"mainstream\" American adolescents. Rejecting such predictable answers as TV violence, permissiveness, and inherent evil, Currie links this crisis to a pervasive \"culture of exclusion\" fostered by a society in which medications trump guidance and a punitive \"zero tolerance\" approach to adolescent misbehavior has become the norm. Broadening his inquiry, he dissects the changes in middle-class life that stratify the world into \"winners\" and \"losers,\" imposing an extraordinarily harsh culture—and not just on kids.\u003cbr\u003e     Vivid, compelling, and deeply empathetic, \u003ci\u003eThe Road to Whatever\u003c\/i\u003e is a stark indictment of a society that has lost the will—or the capacity—to care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Convincing . . . Currie's argument is just about airtight.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Vivid . . . this book will worry you and make you think hard about the collapse of a caring environment in America.” —\u003ci\u003eFrances Fox Piven\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780805080001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40673464811726,"sku":"9780805080001","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_ec4e8e55-4de4-4883-ae22-d8559847700c.jpg?v=1639884482","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780805080001","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}